Demonic Cultivation
'Demonic cultivation '(鬼道, Guǐ dào) is a path of cultivation founded by Wei Wuxian. Description Unlike regular cultivational practices which use spiritual energy (灵气, líng qì) stored in the dantian, demonic cultivation manipulates resentful energy (怨气, yuàn qì) given off by walking corpses. Novel, Chapter 14 Notably, demonic cultivation can be accessed without a golden core. Development Conversation in the Orchid Room The idea behind demonic cultivation can be traced to a scenario Lan Qiren gave his class: Novel, Chapter 14 "There is an executioner with parents, a wife, and children, but before he died, he executed more than one hundred people. He suddenly died in the public and, to punish him for his deeds, he was left on the streets for seven days. With the repressed energy of resentment, he started to haunt and kill. What should be done?" Lan Wangji, as a representative of orthodox cultivation, replied: "First, liberate; second, suppress; third, eliminate. The initial approach is to utilise the gratitude of his relatives and grant his dying wish, set free what he could not let go of. If it fails, suppress it. If the crimes were extremely wrongful, and its energy of resentment does not dissipate, exterminate it completely. The cultivation world should precisely keep to this order of measures. No errors should be allowed." Wei Wuxian, however, postulated a different solution: "Because the executioner died in such a way, it is only natural that he turned into a ferocious corpse. Since he executed more than one hundred people before he died, why not dig up the graves of these people, arouse their energy of resentment, collect the heads of those hundred people, and use them to fight with the ferocious corpse… There are some things that have no use after liberation, so why not find a way to make use of them? When Yu the Great tamed the flood, obstruction was the inferior method, and redirection was the superior. Suppression is the same as obstruction, so isn’t it inferior… Spiritual energy is energy; resentful energy is energy as well. Spiritual energy is stored in the dantian. It can split mountains and fill oceans, available for human use. If so, then why can’t resentful energy also be used by humans?" Sunshot Campaign After he was thrown into the Burial Mounds following the loss of his golden core, Wei Wuxian developed methods to control ghosts and Fierce Corpses to escape the Burial Mounds. After three months, he had progressed enough to use flute music to control the resentful energy of corpses and ghouls. the ability to control resentful energy corpses via flute music. Novel, Chapter 62 After escaping the Burial Mounds, he used his new methods to exact revenge upon Wen Chao, Wang Lingjiao, and Wen Zhuliu for their role in the massacre of Lotus Pier. Novel, Chapter 62 Later, following the invention and use of the Stygian Tiger Seal, it became apparent to Jin Guangshan that demonic cultivation was a fast and easy way to gain power. Novel, Chapter 72 Further inventions like the Spirit-Trapping Bag, Spirit-Attraction Flag, and Compass of Evil proved useful enough to make their way into orthodox cultivation even after Wei Wuxian's demise. Novel, Chapter 3 Later Developments Following the bloodbath of Nightless City and the first siege of the Burial Mounds, demonic cultivation faced several restrictions and a loss in popularity with the death of Wei Wuxian. In particular, Jiang Cheng led the Yunmeng Jiang Sect to seize any practitioner of demonic cultivation, in case Wei Wuxian's spirit had returned and possessed their bodies. The Lanling Jin Sect hired multiple cultivators to develop demonic cultivation further, but only Xue Yang showed any talent for the practice. Novel, Chapter 118 Xue Yang was able to repair the Stygian Tiger Seal, as well as develop a way to induce Corpse Poisoning as a way to turn living people into corpses. Novel, Chapter 40 Techniques Controlling Corpses Main article: Stygian Tiger Seal, Evocation Conscious Fierce Corpses Main article: Wen Ning, Corpse Poisoning, Song Lan Summoning of Painted Eyes ''As if they saw or heard something hilarious, the pair of paper mannequins giggled incessantly. At the same time, the eyes painted with human blood spun rapidly inside their sockets. The sight was truly stunning, but also truly frightening. Standing before them, Wei WuXian lowered his head in salutation. ''Novel, Chapter 36 This method seems to involve summoning a spirit to possess whatever object the eyes are painted on, such as paper mannequins. The spirits summons were strong enough to tear the arm off a fierce corpse. Novel, Chapter 36 References Category:Misc. Category:Abilities Category:Terminology